Be the Pack Leader: Use Cesar's Way to Transform Your Dog...and Your Life

Filled with practical tips and techniques as well as real-life success stories from Cesar's fans, clients, and his popular television show Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan, this audiobook will help you understand and read your dog's energy as well as your own, so that you can move beyond just correcting behavioral issues and take your connection with your dog to the next level.

Millan offers sensible, practical advice for dog-owners. The basic message I got out of this book is that dogs respond best to a balanced, assertive leader who can provide a structured and orderly environment, and the book provides lots of insight on how to accomplish this. By controling the kind of "energy" you present to your dog, and giving the correct amounts of exercise, discipline and affection you can solve many problems.

I have a 2 year old lab-pyrenees cross with a LOT of energy. Since reading this book and applying much of the advice I have noticed significant improvements in his leash and off-leash walking behaviour, jumping, whining and yard escapes.

I highly recommend this book to all dog owners (current or potential).

Into the Black: Odyssey One

Captain Eric Weston and his crew encounter horrors, wonders, monsters, and people; all of which will test their resolve, challenge their abilities, and put in sharp relief what is necessary to be a hero. A first-rate military-science-fiction epic that combines old-school space opera and modern storytelling, Into the Black: Odyssey One is a riveting, exhilarating adventure with vivid details, rich mythology, and relentless pacing.

I was encouraged by all the positive reviews of this book and decided to make the purchase. In my opinion it did not quite stand up to the hype I'd seen about it before reading it, but it was still a decent listen. The story is typical of the military science fiction genre coupled with something that's a little more of a first contact type. I would put it with Jack Campbell (or John G. Henry)'s Geary series. I didn't quite connect with the characters to the extent I would like to have. I think part of the reason is because the antagonists all seem to be external to the group. Internally, amid the crew, everyone seems to get along too well.

The narrator jarred me from the story at times. He did an okay job, but I don't think the guy's really cut out for military SF.

The Secret Anarchy of Science: Free Radicals

This thrilling exploration of some of the greatest breakthroughs in science reveals the extreme lengths some scientists go to in order to make their theories public. Fraud, suppressing evidence, and unethical or reckless PR games are sometimes necessary to bring the best and most brilliant discoveries to the world's attention. Inspiration can come from the most unorthodox of places, and Brooks introduces us to Nobel laureates who get their ideas through drugs, dreams, and hallucinations. .

I only gave this one star because I can't give it zero. The author makes a weak attempt at "shaking the foundations of science," but to me this read like the essay of someone who is a little ticked off that he couldn't make it as a professor.

In the first chapter he makes the assertion that Apollo astronauts brought a camera to the moon and took the "earth-rise" picture directly because some hippie started a campaign about needing to see a picture of the earth. Are we really to believe that NASA had otherwise planned on sending people to the moon without a camera?

He goes on and on about how various scientists take psychedelic and other drugs and claim it enhances their scientific productivity.

The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack: Burton & Swinburne, Book 1

Sir Richard Francis Burton and Algernon Charles Swinburne are sucked into the perilous depths of a moral and ethical vacuum when Lord Palmerston commissions Burton to investigate assaults on young women committed by a weird apparition known as Spring Heeled Jack - and to find out why werewolves are terrorizing London's East End.

This story has all the elements of a great tale - a dashing hero, an intriguing side-kick, a well-motivated antagonist. It particularly picked up in the second part. There were also a lot of "steampunk" elements and a very imaginative world. Hat's off to the author for bringing together an amazing array of fresh ideas in a world that, crazy as it is, all makes sense in the end.

On the downside, there was a lot of "head hopping," which made it difficult to keep track of view points. Perhaps in the manuscript there were visual cues for changes in point of view, but the narrator doesn't seem to bring these across. I also felt that the main character was a little "too perfect."

Overall, I think if you enjoy a creative world, it's worth a listen. I wouldn't nominate it for any awards, and I'm on the fence about carrying on with the series.

Three Day Road

Cree Indians and best-friends Xavier and Elijah enlist in the Canadian Army in 1915, eager to become heroes. Seasoned hunters, the men become expert snipers, but their horrifying experiences serving in World War I will leave devastating impressions on each man’s life.

The author writes well and the story is interesting. Boyden takes us on a vivid journey into the lives of three Cree Canadians as they collide with the first world war. He writes very well and overall I found the story intriguing, yet at times disturbing.

The author and narrator apparently took painstaking efforts to learn how to properly pronounce the Cree words in the story. They did not however bother to learn how Canadians pronounce the word 'lieutenant' - which is rather jarring every time it comes up.

There is a fair amount of drug use (morphine) in the story and it is described in detail. At times I wanted to tell the author, "Okay I get it, he's addicted to morphine, let's move on."

Valor's Choice

In the distant future, humans and several other races have been granted membership in the Confederation - at a price. They must act as soldier/protectors of the far more civilized races who have long since turned away from war.

Overall this story turned out okay, but that was because I had nothing else to listen to for long periods of time that got me through the first half. By about chapter 5 or 6 there's a bar-fight, but until there there's a whole lot of nothing. You really could have picked it up half way through and not have missed much. It does pick up, and delivers some decent military SF - although, aside from the fact that you have humans fighting alongside and against aliens, the SF combat doesn't seem all that present as the storyline seemed to go out of its way to nullify it.

The narrator slows her voice to perform male or alien voices, which got really irritating. Maybe if you played it at 1.5x speed it would sound better.

Into the Storm: Destroyermen, Book 1

Pressed into service when World War II breaks out in the Pacific, the USS Walker---a Great-War vintage "four-stacker" destroyer---finds itself in full retreat from pursuit by Japanese battleships. Its captain, Lieutenant Commander Matthew Patrick Reddy, knows that he and his crew are in dire straits. In desperation, he heads Walker into a squall, hoping it will give them cover---and emerges somewhere else.

Anderson has a great concept and the beginning of this story is great with an vivid and exciting description of WWII combat. We then enter a parallel world which is full of potential for adventure. Anderson does an okay job here, but as I read, I felt it could have been a lot better. The story dragged a little longer than it needed to and it seems like he's going to stretch what could have been a shorter novel into a series. You could certainly find a lot worse out there, but I don't think this had the finishing power to motivate me enough to read on in the series.

Hominids: The Neanderthal Parallax, Book 1

Neanderthals have developed a radically different civilization on a parallel Earth. A Neanderthal physicist, Ponter Boddit, accidentally passes from his universe into a Canadian underground research facility. Fortunately, a team of human scientists, including expert paleo-anthropologist Mary Vaughan, promptly identifies and warmly receives Ponter. Solving the language problem and much else is a mini-computer, called a Companion, implanted in the brain of every Neanderthal. But it can't help his fellow scientist back in his world, Adikor Huld, when the authorities charge Adikor with his murder.

Sawyer has some interesting ideas that make this book worth reading, but the story's pace dragged considerably in my opinion. At times the story tends to slip into thinly veiled political commentary that does little to advance the plot, or develop the characters. What it seems Sawyer is tryng to convey is a dystopic view of our world seen through the eyes of a neanerthal from a parallel universe. If you don't agree with some of the interpretations, it can be quite jarring (which perhaps was the point). I think this story would appeal to fans of "hard" science fiction - where the focus is on the speculation within.

The Cleaner

Meet Jonathan Quinn: a freelance operative with a take-no-prisoners style and the heart of a loner. His job? Professional "cleaner". Nothing too violent, just disposing of bodies. But his latest assignment will change everything. The job seemed simple enough: investigating a suspicious case of arson. But when a dead body turns up, and Quinn's handlers at "the Office" turn strangely silent, he knows he's in over his head. With only a handful of clues, Quinn struggles to find out why someone wants him dead.

This story follows the adventures of Jonathan Quinn - a private espionage specialist with a jaded past. The plot is about average for thriller in this genre - lots of action, foreign settings, conspiracys, and even has a few interesting twists.

Personally I felt that the writer should have edited this work a little harder. As it is, there are all sort of useless parts where the main character checks his email, eats, makes casual conversation and does other hum-drum stuff that doesn't advance the plot. Hence the story has some good meat, but you have to chew around a lot of grizzle. A good editor would have cut a lot of this out, leaving the good stuff. Perhaps the abridged version would be better.

The narrator puts far too much emphasis on "performing" the story, rather than just reading it. His tone borders on annoying at times.

How I Write: Secrets of a Best-Selling Author

Written with nonfiction author and creative-writing teacher Ina Yalof, and with help from daughter Alex Evanovich, How I Write is the perfect guide for anyone looking to strengthen his or her writing - and for those who want to find out just what makes Janet Evanovich tick.

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